Leaving pigs and cosmetics out of this, retro depends on your point of reference.

A reasonable point for me is prior to the modern indexing era initiated by Shimano with SIS in the mid 80's.

Early Campagnolo C Record makes the cut for me, but only the pre Syncro stuff. For others it is before the death of Tullio.

For some, retro is Cambio Corsa, and the jockey wheel era is modern.

Another way to look at it is to not "buy-in" to the bike of the month club that the marketeers parade in front of you with the implication that to not have the latest will leave you dropped off the back.

"Retro" is something from the past but generally is used in context of an older style/fashion or look applied to a contemporary subject. An old bike is not "retro" it is an old bike.

Um, I prefer classic or vintage to "old" but yes I agree with your sentiment. For example, a 2007 Mustang is "retro". A '69 Mustang is "classic". The basic idea of retro is to use older styling cues to evoke the sense of a once popular item. One of the more blatant attempts at bicycle retro-ism is the 2005-present Bianchi Pista. The Pista has been around for years but in 2005 they slapped the old school white panel decals on it to evoke memories of those 70's bike boom years. It failed in my estimation in large part because Bianchi never had white panel decals in the first place so it was purely an affectation.

Um, I prefer classic or vintage to "old" but yes I agree with your sentiment. For example, a 2007 Mustang is "retro". A '69 Mustang is "classic". The basic idea of retro is to use older styling cues to evoke the sense of a once popular item. One of the more blatant attempts at bicycle retro-ism is the 2005-present Bianchi Pista. The Pista has been around for years but in 2005 they slapped the old school white panel decals on it to evoke memories of those 70's bike boom years. It failed in my estimation in large part because Bianchi never had white panel decals in the first place so it was purely an affectation.

I don't really know what "retro" means. I don't think there's anything retro about wanting a certain kind of bike, or a bike that looks a certain way. Few of us can get a car built to our specifications. I mean, we are pretty much limited to what's at the dealerships, but many people can get a bike custom-built to their specs, and if doing so, why would we chose ugliness over beauty? It might not be up to current consumerist fashion trends, but it's not really retro.

Technically speaking, retro- is a prefix and not supposed to be used on its own. It means back or backwards. Retro as used on its own nowadays, is short for retrospective which means looking back. So I guess a retro bike would be a bike made to resemble a bike model from earlier years, while a vintage bike actually is from earlier years.

Technically speaking, retro- is a prefix and not supposed to be used on its own. It means back or backwards. Retro as used on its own nowadays, is short for retrospective which means looking back. So I guess a retro bike would be a bike made to resemble a bike model from earlier years, while a vintage bike actually is from earlier years.